News

Congratulations to Courtney Kenyon who was awarded the Morgan Award for Research Promise, Distinction in the Major, and the Exceptional Academic Performance Award for her outstanding academic and research record. Courtney conducted her senior honors thesis on the impact of neuroendocrine aging on working memory. We are so proud of you, Courtney!!

Congratulations to our all-star senior honors students Courtney Kenyon and Maggie Hayes, who presented their thesis projects at UCSB's Undergraduate Research Colloquium this month. Courtney's project is titled "Impact of neuroendocrine aging on working memory" and Maggie's project is titled "Impact of oral hormonal contraception on brain morphology."

Courtney also presented her findings at UCLA's Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference.

Science has to represent society, especially since the bulk of academic research is publicly funded by tax payer dollars. For that to happen, we need a DIVERSE pool of scientists who bring radically new perspectives to the table. Watch Emily's TEDx talk on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaTKngzeY8k

As a surprise to no one and a joy to all, all five undergraduates in the lab -- Courtney Kenyon, Maggie Hayes, Emily Cao, Morgan Fitzgerald, and Aidan Galati-- were listed in the department's annual "exceptional undergraduate scholars" report based on their stellar academic record.

As the academic year kicks off, don't forget about all the learning that happens outside the classroom and inside the lab. Check out a new video on undergraduate research with some fun footage of the Jacobs Lab!

Caitlin Taylor was named a 2018 SAGE Junior Fellow by the SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind.

She is one of four named fellows from across the University.

The Fellowship supports "the intellectual development of early-career postdoctoral scholars across the University. Fellows are selected based on excellence and originality in their scholarship and potential to advance knowledge in their field. Fellows are drawn from a wide range of disciplines, including anthropology, chemistry, computer science, economics, ecology, engineering, history, linguistics, literature, mathematics, molecular biology, neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, physics & religious studies."

Emily was awarded a 2018 Challenge Grant from the California Nanosystems Institute for her project "Spatial Navigation, Sex Hormones, and the Aging Brain" in collaboration with PBS Professor Mary Hegarty and Geography Professor Liz Chrastil. The team will be using immersive virtual environments to map changes in the brain's spatial navigation circuitry and assess navigational strategies in the middle decade of life.

Emily was awarded a 2018 Academic Senate Grant for her project "“Impact of Reproductive Aging on Spatial Navigation” being conducted in collaboration with Liz Chrastil (Geography) and Mary Hegarty (PBS)

Emily joined Michel Maharbiz (UC Berkeley) and Veronica Santos (UCLA) for a day on the Hill with the Coalition for National Science Funding. She met with the offices of Sen. Kamala Harris, Dianne Feinstein, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Julia Brownley and Salud Carbajal to advocate for sustained federal funding for women's health research

Caitlin Taylor was awarded the Florence P. Haseltine Award for outstanding poster presentation by a new investigator at this years #OSSD2018 meeting. Caitlin is developing one of the first large-scale human brain imaging databases dedicated to advancing women's health. Congratulations, Caitlin!!

This award is in honor of Florence Haseltine (pictured above), Founder of the Society of Women's Health Research, founding editor of the Journal of Women’s Health and an expert in reproductive endocrinology.

Shuying Yu has been named UCSB's Eugene Cota Robles University Fellow! This marks back to back celebrations for Shuying, who was recently accepted into UCSB's Psychological and Brain Sciences Ph.D program. She'll transition into her graduate student role in the Jacobs Lab this summer. Congratulations, Shuying!!

We are thrilled to welcome Laura to the lab as a new PhD student beginning Summer 2017.

Laura will be graduating with a B.S. from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in May 2017 with a major in Psychology. As an undergraduate she worked in Dr. Sepideh Sadaghiani's lab, investigating the functional role of spontaneous neural activity and connectivity in large-scale brain networks. She will complete her Bachelor’s thesis under the supervision of Dr. Andrei Cimpian, researching developmental change in response inhibition and its relation to empathetic behavior. Laura is interested in understanding and identifying cognitive dysfunction stemming from the role of sex steroids in cognitive networks, specifically during the critical periods of reproductive aging. In addition, Laura is passionate about advocating for women’s health research and policy.

In a strange and wonderful twist of fate, Laura and Emily discovered they graduated from the same small high school in central Illinois.

Please join us for an interdisciplinary symposium hosted by the Kavli Foundation and UCSB Brain Initiative. The panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Ken Kosik, Harriman Professor of Neuroscience at UCSB, will feature:

Roberta Diaz BRINTON - Vanderveen Chair in Therapeutic Discovery and Development at the University of Southern California, where she is Professor of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biomedical Engineering and Neurology. Dr. Brinton has elucidated the mechanisms by which sex hormones control bioenergetic and regenerative aging in the brain. Her work has led to new, personalized clinical interventions in Alzheimer's disease.

John H MORRISON - Professor of Neurology at UC Davis School of Medicine and the director of the California National Primate Research Center. Dr. Morrison's research focuses on the neurobiology of aging and neurodegeneration. He directs the large NIH-funded program project on "Estrogen & the Aging Brain" and is one of the most highly cited investigators in neuroscience.

Emily Goard JACOBS is an Assistant Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences at UCSB. Dr. Jacobs' research elucidates the effects of estradiol on the structure and function of the human brain. Using human brain imaging, neuroendocrinology, and imaging genetics, she determines the unique aging patterns of the female brain, addressing a major gap in women's health.

Emily Jacobs, Assistant Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara, attended the National Academy of Sciences 28th Annual Kavli Frontiers of Science Symposium. The gathering, which convenes in November, is considered the Academy’s premiere activity for distinguished young scientists under 45.

We're thrilled to welcome Caitlin Taylor to the lab this Winter. Caitlin will be joining us from Washington D.C., where she received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Georgetown University with Guinevere Eden, D.Phil.

The NIH's Office of Research on Women's Health is hosting a conference in conjunction with the 25th Anniversary of the ORWH. Emily will be speaking at a special session beginning June 7th, 11:15AM in the Natcher Conference Center (Building 45). She'll be discussing recent advances in our understanding of how reproductive aging shapes early changes in episodic memory circuitry. Introduced by Jill M. Goldstein, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of Research at the Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH).

Learn more about the BIRCWH and SCOR programs here, two NIH initiatives dedicated to advancing women's health research.